


after dark

by yumetourou



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-31 16:48:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21449479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumetourou/pseuds/yumetourou
Summary: hyunjoon and sunwoo meet in a 24 hour denny’s
Relationships: Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall/Kim Sunwoo
Comments: 1
Kudos: 54





	after dark

**Author's Note:**

> based on/inspired by after dark by haruki murakami. please read that for a much better version.

** _00_ **

Hyunjoon leaned his head against the wall, eyes trained on his pen as he tap tap tapped it against the table. The fluorescent lights flickered and hummed, the noises making themselves incessantly known until Hyunjoon thought he may go insane. He shifted his position so he sat upright, the squeaking of the faux leather adding to the list of noises that were irritating him. He stopped tapping his pen on the table. 

“Have you decided on your order?” The sweet voice of the waitress broke through all the noises, and Hyunjoon paused momentarily to make sense of the question. He had forgotten he was in a 24 hour Denny’s. 

“I’ll uhm, I’ll just take a black coffee please. Small.”

“Anything to eat?”

“No, thank you.” The waitress gave him a tight smile. He felt bad for her to be working this late. 

“I’ll be right out with that.” 

And so, the not silent silence continued. Hyunjoon stared at his blank paper, knowing he had some sort of inspiration an hour ago but failing to recall it. Maybe he’d already gone insane. The bell over the door jingled, and Hyunjoon turned to peer over the top of the booth to see who else would come to a 24 hour Denny’s in the middle of the night. He immediately shrank back into the corner of the booth and the wall to avoid eye contact. To Hyunjoon’s dismay, the other boy slid into the booth across from him, his instrument case rattling as he did so. He didn’t bother taking off his leather jacket, even though the heating in the Denny’s was cranked up to compensate for the colder nighttime weather. Hyunjoon focused on his blank paper like his life depended on it, his hair flopping in front of his eyes. 

“I haven’t seen you around here before.” The other boy’s voice was deep, and it surprised Hyunjoon, causing him to look up. He must have given the poor boy a colder look than intended, for he shied away from Hyunjoon’s gaze. He looked about Hyunjoon’s age, and Hyunjoon wondered if they had gone to school together. “Not in a creepy way, I promise. Not many people come to Denny’s in the middle of the night.” He gestured toward the empty restaurant around them. “I’m Sunwoo, by the way.”

“Hyunjoon. Heo Hyunjoon.”

“Well, Heo Hyunjoon, what brings you to this humble 24 hours Denny’s?”

“I could ask the same of you.” 

“I asked first.” Hyunjoon sighed to himself. This was  _ not  _ the night he had hoped for. 

“Just… sitting.”

“Sitting?”

“Sitting.” Hyunjoon glanced out the window at nothing. If Sunwoo wanted to talk, he could do the talking. 

“Since you asked, I come here almost every night. Usually after practice.”

“Practice for what?” Hyunjoon’s eyes didn’t leave the night sky.

“I got roped into being in a band by my friends, Eric and Haknyeon. I play bass.” The waitress brought Hyunjoon’s coffee, effectively cutting off Sunwoo’s rambling that Hyunjoon was only half paying attention to. 

“Can I get you anything, Sunwoo?” She spoke in a much more relaxed way than she did with Hyunjoon.

“Oh, not tonight. Thanks though.” The waitress and Sunwoo exchanged a friendly smile, and Sunwoo turned back to Hyunjoon. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. “Do I know you from somewhere?” Hyunjoon shrugged in response. 

“You probably know my brother, Jaehyun.”

“Heo Jaehyun… the name does ring a bell, but I swear I recognize you.” Sunwoo squinted at Hyunjoon. 

“Well, keep squinting, because I don’t recognize you.” Hyunjoon had to admit, once Sunwoo brought it up, he did seem vaguely familiar. But Sunwoo didn’t need to know that, right?

** _01_ **

Hyunjoon wandered around the streets, with no particular goal in mind. He couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t sleep. Not on a night like this, his last night like this. His paper and pen were long abandoned with his empty coffee cup, probably in the Denny’s bin by now. He heard sirens in the distance, the faint wailing growing louder as it approached him. He stopped in his tracks and watched three police cars speed by. He stared at them until the flashing lights disappeared around a corner. He kept on walking toward where the cars had turned, and vaguely wondered if he would see the aftermath of whatever they were attending to. He could still hear the sirens wailing, so he doubted it was close enough for him to get a proper look. He was curious, though. 

The bells over the door rang as Sunwoo entered the convenience store. He wandered around, unable to get Hyunjoon’s face out of his mind. The other boy occupied him so much that he forgot what he came to buy. He opened a cooler to stare at the beverages within it, the cold air hitting him in the face. As he grabbed a litre of iced tea, a phone clattered out of the cooler to the ground. He picked it up, and it was cold against his hand. Someone must have left in the cooler, of all places. It started ringing, and Sunwoo almost dropped it. Being nosy, he glanced at the contact name. It was Hyunjoon. He was tempted to answer it, but morality got the better of him. He took the still ringing phone to the counter. He handed it to the poor graveyard shift employee, and slid his jug of iced tea onto the counter.

“I found that phone in the cooler. I thought whoever it belonged to would come back looking for it eventually, and probably not in the cooler.” The employee looked from the ringing phone to Sunwoo’s face. 

“Thanks? I’ll tell whoever picks it up that it was in the cooler.” He nodded toward the iced tea jug. “Is that everything?” Sunwoo nodded as the employee scanned the barcode. He slid a 10,000 won bill onto the counter. He took his receipt and change from the employee, along with his jug of iced tea in a plastic bag that threatened to break at any minute. The plastic handles dug into his hand with the weight of the drink. He still couldn’t get his mind off Hyunjoon, even when he saw police cars speed by in the opposite direction. He stared at them momentarily, but ended up brushing it off. Police cars weren’t uncommon in this area, so as long as they were going the opposite direction of him he probably had nothing to worry about. 

** _03_ **

Hyunjoon had made himself comfortable on a park bench. He’d been sitting there for about half an hour, staring up at the twinkling stars. The sky was clear for once after a week of overcast nights, and it seemed to be fate that he could see the stars clearly on his last night in Busan. He tipped his head back, and let the cool breeze flow over his face. It was calming, to stargaze in a park by himself. Footsteps approached, and he closed his eyes, hoping that if he pretended to be asleep he would be left alone. He really didn’t want to talk to anyone else tonight. The footsteps, however, seemed to stop in front of him. 

“Are you asleep?” Hyunjoon recognized Sunwoo’s voice, and sighed to himself before opening his eyes. 

“No.”

“Have you slept at all?” Without invitation, Sunwoo sat beside him on the bench, and Hyunjoon lifted his head to look at the other. 

“No. I’m staying awake.” Sunwoo looked from Hyunjoon to the sky, and Hyunjoon noticed how close he was sitting. 

“Were you stargazing?”

“Kind of.”

“That’s not a proper answer, but I’ll let that one slide. Why stay up all night just to stargaze? You could do that any night.”

“I’m leaving for university in Seoul at six in the morning. I wanted to spend my last night in the city stargazing.”

“That’s where I recognize you from!” Sunwoo sounded as excited as a child in a candy shop. His instrument case almost hit Hyunjoon as he stood up. 

“Huh?” The glow of the streetlights in the distance created a silhouette of Sunwoo. Hyunjoon couldn’t see his eyes, but he spoke to silhouette Sunwoo and made eye contact to the best of his ability. 

“Years ago, probably when we were 14, we went on a school trip. One night, I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk around the cabin that we stayed in, and I found you stargazing outside. So I joined you.” Hyunjoon knitted his brows in concentration. He remembered that trip, but not the details. The more he thought, the more he seemed to remember what Sunwoo was talking about. He remembered falling asleep outside the cabin, with Sunwoo, and worrying the chaperones sick. 

“I remember that now that you bring it up, but you really remembered that for five years?” Sunwoo’s silhouette shrugged. 

“You were interesting. Not many 14 year olds had such a fascination with the stars that you did. You’re still interesting. What are you going to university for?”

“Creative writing.”

“Not astrology?”

“No. I just like looking at the stars, I don’t care about the science behind them. I’d rather write something that can make someone think.” Sunwoo sat beside him again, his warmth extending to Hyunjoon. 

“Have you eaten anything besides that coffee you had earlier?” Hyunjoon shook his head, before realizing that it was too dark for Sunwoo to see his small movements. 

“No.” He felt Sunwoo feel around the bench for his hand before grabbing it. Sunwoo’s hand was rough and warm, a contrast to the cold of Hyunjoon’s soft skin. 

“I know a nice cafe that’s near here. Come with me.”

** _04 _ **

Again, Hyunjoon was sitting across from Sunwoo. Though, this time, the atmosphere was much cozier than the 24 hour Denny’s. Hyunjoon pushed his small salad around with his fork. 

“Why do you have a litre of iced tea?” Hyunjoon asked, but Sunwoo asked him a question at the same time. 

“Who did you phone earlier?” They both paused, and Hyunjoon spoke again. 

“Why do you have a litre of iced tea?” Sunwoo glanced down at the plastic bag that looked like it had been stretched to its limit. 

“I needed some iced tea.” He looked back to Hyunjoon, intentionally making eye contact for the first time that night. “Who did you phone earlier?” Hyunjoon froze. 

“How do you know that?”

“I found the phone at the convenience store I got my tea at. It fell out of the cooler. When I picked it up, it rang and it had your contact.” 

“How do you know it was me and not some other Hyunjoon?”

“It had your picture too. You were laughing, you looked really really happy. It was a nice picture.” Hyunjoon felt his cheeks grow warm. He let a heavy silence hang between them. 

“It was my brother. Where was that convenience store?” Sunwoo paused, thinking. 

“I dunno, maybe a block or two from the Denny’s?”

“Did you hear sirens?” 

“I saw some police cars. Why?” Hyunjoon sat back in his chair, sighing. 

“Jaehyun, he… he kind of got into some messy stuff after he graduated. I used to be really close to him, but for my safety he put some distance between us. I don’t talk to him much anymore, but I wanted to at least say goodbye to him before I leave. I can’t help but think he was involved in whatever those police cars were attending to.” Hyunjoon looked up at Sunwoo, who was staring at him intently. 

“What kind of messy stuff?” 

“I’m not really sure, he kept it vague on purpose. I know he’s had a few run ins with the police though. He’s not a bad person, he just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 

“I believe you. But why would you tell me all this? It seems kind of personal.”

“I’m leaving in-” Hyunjoon glanced at his watch, “-in and hour and a half. There’s really nothing for me to lose by telling you this.” Hyunjoon began pushing his salad around with his fork again. Sunwoo reached across the table and squeezed his hand. 

“Well, Heo Hyunjoon, you gained something because of it. A friend.”

“Very noble of you. Befriending a stranger who you’ll never see again at 4:30 in the morning.” Sunwoo faked insult. 

“Well then, if you’re gonna be that way then I’ll just retract my offer.” He grinned at Hyunjoon, and Hyunjoon grinned back. 

** _05_ **

Hyunjoon entered his home as quietly as possible, careful not to wake anyone. Maintaining his silence, he crept through the house and to his bedroom. His parents knew he was leaving early that morning, so he’d said his goodbyes the night before. Still, a pit of regret and guilt was growing in his stomach about not saying goodbye to Jaehyun. He stood in his bedroom, taking it in one last time. As he stared at the posters on his walls of movies and idols that he liked, he bit back the urge to cry. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, letting in just enough light that Hyunjoon could see his pre-packed suitcase on the floor. He grabbed it and made his way back down the hallway. As he walked past Jaehyun’s old room, he glanced inside. He stopped when he saw a figure in the bed. Leaving his suitcase, he made his way into Jaehyun’s room. He felt a strange nervousness, he knew Jaehyun was asleep, but something about seeing your sibling after a year and a half of scattered phone calls was scary. Silently, he crawled into Jaehyun’s bed and wrapped his arms around the older. 

“I love you, Jaehyun.”

** _06_ **

Hyunjoon stood, alone, at the train station. He wasn’t just alone in the fact that he was by himself, he was the only one at that particular train station. He sat on a bench and rolled his suitcase back and forth as he watched the sunrise. The breeze was beginning to warm up as it ruffled his hair. As the golden streaks painted the sky, he felt himself grow sleepy. He fought the urge to nap, settling for sleeping on the train. Again he heard footsteps approaching, and looked to the sound so see Sunwoo walking toward him, iced tea and instrument case still in hand. 

“What are you doing here?” Hyunjoon called. 

“You think I’d let you leave without a goodbye? That’s not what friends do, Heo Hyunjoon.”

“Why are you calling me by my full name?”

“Well, you introduced yourself with your full name.” Hyunjoon faked annoyance to try and hide his smile.

“You can call me Hyunjoon.” 

“Well then, Hyunjoon, you’ve got to tell me all about Seoul when you get there. Here.” Sunwoo handed him a piece of paper with his address and phone number. Hyunjoon struggled to make out his messy writing. 

“Your address?” 

“Yeah. Like penpals.” 

“Geez, Sunwoo, you’re acting like it's 2004. I can just text you.”

“It’s more fun if you write.” Hyunjoon looked over his shoulder when he heard his train approach. He gave Sunwoo a quick hug before he grabbed his suitcase and ran to the train. Just before he stepped on, he turned back to Sunwoo. 

“I’ll write to you. I’ll write you a super long letter, like we’re in an old book!”

**Author's Note:**

> dunno what this is i really dont have words. thanks for reading!


End file.
